Bengaluru: In a setback for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the Assembly election, prominent Lingayat leader HD Thammaiah resigned from the primary membership of the party on Sunday and joined the Congress.
Thammaiah is a close confidant of BJP national general secretary CT Ravi.
BJP leaders now want to join the Congress sensing the downfall: DK Shivakumar
The Lingayat leader was welcomed into the Congress by Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar, who claimed that many BJP leaders now want to join the Congress sensing the downfall of the saffron party in the Assembly elections. He, however, did not reveal the names.
Thammaiah was Chikkamagaluru constituency's district convenor of the BJP and wanted to contest the upcoming polls. However, he was disappointed, though he had worked for the party for 17 years in various capacities.
"I have been working in the BJP and fulfilled my responsibilities in various posts since 2007, but the current political developments have disappointed me. As a result, I wish to resign from my post as convener of the district unit as well as from the primary membership of the BJP. I wish to express gratitude to all office-bearers, heads and members of all boards, forums and units of the BJP, who helped me in my work for 17 years. I also thank all my activist colleagues and senior leaders of the BJP," Thammaiah said in his resignation letter.
The Lingayat leader does not carry much heft in the community, but his switchover may affect the image of the BJP, which is aggressively campaigning to get the support of the state's dominant Lingayat population, which forms 16-17% of the electorate.
